TAMAN NEGARA

Picking up where I left off, on Tuesday morning we departed early from Singapore via the "Jungle Train" which goes to the central and eastern portion of Malaysia, as opposed to the other non-jungle train line that predominantly serves Kuala Lumpur and the west coast. We opted for the local train and it's 25+ stops that left in the morning and arrived in the evening, rather than the overnight express train that would have gotten us into our destination at 3a. We figured that since we were just getting adjusted to the right time zone that we wouldn't mess with an overnight train ride, plus a 3am arrival didn't sound too great either. And unless the ticket agent's math was wrong, the overnight express train was only 1 hour faster than the local. So long story short, we had 9 hours on the train and plenty of stops to see the countryside and local people.

As advertised, the jungle train netted some great tropical scenery. After first crossing the border into Malaysia, it was quite wet. This region, Johor, which is the southern most in Peninsular Malaysia, was hit by a monsoon and subsequent flooding a few weeks before we arrived and the effects were still quite apparent. The fact that it was raining on this day as well certainly didn't help. But since we had no control over the rain anyway, from our standpoint we didn't mind it so much, as after 2 days of sun and blue skies in Singapore, the overcast rainy weather was well timed given it was a travel day. (Little did we know at the time, but it would be several days before we really saw blue skies and the sun again). So, other than taking in the beautiful, albeit wet, scene from the train window, the ride was mostly uneventful.

We arrived to our destination, the town of Jerantut, which is the jumping off point to make your way into Taman Negara national park, about 6p that night. After settling into a hotel room that was not much larger than the double bed that it contained, we cruised the one street town for some dinner. The town itself was a little depressing, or put it this way, I was glad that it was a transit spot for us and not our destination. Though, that being said, I actually had one of my better meals on the trip here, a lemon chicken that was sweet and sticky but still crispy. As K's dad would say, "It don't get no better." As a side note I would point out that the Colonel has invaded Singapore & Malaysia full force. So beware. That would be the Colonial Sanders. As we would notice throughout the trip, KFC is everywhere, including this small rural town in Malaysia. Though I suppose fried chicken is universally well liked and in a predominantly Muslim country that doesn't eat pork, it makes sense. And in case you're wondering, the before mentioned outstanding lemon chicken did NOT come from KFC. After dinner we had a briefing on our impending departure the next morning - bus to the jetty and then a 2 hour boat ride up the river to the town of Kampung Kuala Tahan, which is the main access point to get into Taman Negara. We had a mini money panic that night as well, in that we had only changed what little Singapore cash we had left at the train station before we left into Malaysian Ringgits, however since this was our first stop in Malaysia and we knew there would be no ATM in the jungle, we needed to get some money to get us into the jungle and out as well. It was also 6p, so the banks were closed, and our bus left at 8a, before they would be open in the morning. A local told us of 2 banks that had ATM's and after an unsuccessful visit to the first, which had us thinking we were going to be spending another day in Jerantut, we hit gold with the second, ensuring our escape that next morning. Flush with cash, we decided to cruise the local market, which is always an experience in a foreign country, to pick up some snacks for the bus/boat ride. We also decided that given what we had read about the leeches in the jungle, that we would pick up some additional long socks for protection.



The next morning we departed bright and early on the bus to the jetty and then hopped into a long tail boat for what turned out to be a 3-hour boat ride up the river. It was actually quite beautiful and very reminiscent of the boat ride we took up the river in Bolivia on our jungle trip there. It rained off and on during the ride, but fortunately the boat was covered. The park itself is set up with a small 'village' of hostels and floating restaurants on one side of the river and then a more deluxe resort and the park on the other. According to our LP book, Taman Negara is one of the world's oldest preserved jungles, by that they mean it was not affected by the ice ages or burnt down by any volcanoes, so it has stood, as it exists currently, for an estimated 130 million years.

After finding a hostel and some lunch at one of the floating restaurants, we ventured into the park to check out the canopy walk, which is a series of suspended walkways in the tree tops. After navigating the first walkway, which is essentially wood planks over a ladder that rests on a series of mesh ropes and wired cables, very confidently we were somewhat shaken on the next 2 longer walkways as they were maybe 100-125 feet above the jungle floor and quite wobbly, though very sturdy and safe, at least we hoped. The views were great but it was definitely a mixture of exhilaration and fear, though probably more of the latter. Fortunately it wasn't raining when we were up there, though it did open up shortly after we touched down. It was already pretty muddy, as it is a rain forest and does pretty much rain on and off all the time, but we were getting quite wet. After the trail we were following petered out and we decided to head back to camp is when we first discovered the leeches. K, who promised to scream when she saw one, did oblige. They were actually quite small and brown, sort of like tadpoles, though they moved like inch worms. While small, they were relentless, as soon as you flicked off one, you could look around and see others standing on end, sensing your presence, and preparing to mount an attack towards you. Apparently the bigger black ones that you might be picturing, as I was, from movies and the likes, do exist, though we didn't fortunately see any. In our first encounter we were able to flick off the leeches on our shoes and pants before they had settled in for a drink, though it did thoroughly freak K out. I pretty much had to run to keep pace with her as she hightailed it out of the jungle. If we were in an alternate reality, in a spy drama perhaps, and one needed to elicit information out of her, one word: leeches. She would be singing like a canary in no time. After escaping the rain and leeches we then spent the rest of the evening just relaxing and soaking up the jungle atmosphere.



Malaysia is quite beautiful. It also proved cooler than Singapore, though Singapore was oppressively hot, so the slightly cooler temps were welcomed. It did rain in the jungle off and on, but as one of the locals said, "There is a reason they call it a rain forest." Malaysia is sort of the opposite of Singapore in terms of ethnic mixes - it's predominantly Muslim with Malays comprising the majority and Chinese the minority. Though not quite as well versed in English as in Singapore, everyone does seem to speak it for the most part. And everyone is quite friendly. In fact, one local treated us to a fruit taste testing. If you recall the photo of the theaters in Singapore, nicknamed after the fruit the durian, we had the real thing in Taman Negara. After lunch on Thursday a local implored us that when in Malaysia you must try the durian. Given how stinky it was, and it really does stink, I didn't have high hopes for the taste. The fruit itself is sort of like a pineapple in that it's spiky on the outside. However, it's very different on the inside. Instead of sweet mouth watering fruit, it contains 2 giant seeds that you suck the pasty exterior from. It was neither sweet, nor sour, just sort of thick and creamy but not good. The most disconcerting part was that the taste lingers even when you try to wash it away with your drink. K initially thought she liked them, but subsequently changed her mind. What's worse is that once you've tasted them, simply smelling them conjures the taste again. But hey, when in Malaysia...

Later on Thursday we decided to take another trek into the jungle, this time to a vista point that has some spectacular views of the surrounding jungle. This of course was after I did some gentle coaxing and reassurance of K that the leeches wouldn't be that bad this time. This in fact turned out to be a lie as they were worse, as it seemed like we were constantly fighting off leeches most of the 2 hour hike. Actually the hike up wasn't so bad, but coming back down the trail was quite wet and it rained intermittently, which didn't help our cause. But despite the leeches, the mud and the rain, the jungle was definitely a great experience. After our successful leech-free exit from the trail, and by leech-free I mean we didn't have any still on us, we had a celebratory beer. This was at the resort itself, as the village didn't serve alcohol given that it's predominantly Muslim. So we plunked down the $7 per beer, figuring we had earned it.



For K, I think the entire experience can be summed up in these two quotes:

A local upon our arrival in Taman Negara,

"Leeches can be overcome."

K as we are exiting the jungle,

"I still don't think leeches can be overcome."

As she would accurately explain, leeches are too crafty to be overcome. Which is true, they are crafty. So maybe we didn't overcome them, but we survived.

Friday morning we left the jungle to head out west to the Cameron Highlands and the tea plantations, which will be detailed in the next post in a few days. Again, if you want to be automatically sent new posts via email, just drop your address in the box on the upper right.